Wednesday, April 12, 2017

What-to-Know Wednesday: My Favorite Classes

As I approach my final month at SMC, it should come as no surprise that I've been doing lots of reflecting lately! In this reflection, I'll admit I've been surprised to realize what some of my favorite classes have been. Curious? Read on!

Honors Art History

While I decided a year or so back that the Honors Program was no longer beneficial to my own path here, Honors classes have been some of my favorite classes at St. Mike's. As one of these Honors classes, Art History was highly discussion-based, and I was learning alongside likeminded students. Above all, the topic was really interesting. We learned about the history of architecture from Rome to Greece, certain ancient aesthetic and functionality that can still be found in modern buildings, monuments and famous works around the world (from the Pyramids to the Parthenon), and more. Above all, Professor Kinder taught the class in a compelling way. In most cases, she had traveled to the places she was teaching us about, and she was always ready with a funny anecdote or personal story about her visit there.

Global Communications & Culture
While this class had a reputation as one of the hardest ones in the Media Studies, Journalism & Digital Arts major, there was a certain thrill of constantly being on the edge of your seat! From memorizing the world map for a notorious exam to reaching out to individuals in a country across the world for interviews, Global Comm forced us to step beyond our comfort zones, analyze the roles media play in our perceptions of the world around us, and question our own roles as global citizens.

Creative Dance and/or Beginning Dance
As I've written on this blog before, I highly recommend a dance class to any SMC student! Between Global Communications and first semester Senior Seminar, last semester was undoubtedly my most challenging at St. Mike's. However, I was also taking Beginning Dance. Walking to class knowing it was time to stop worrying about some paper that was due or a project I needed to work on and that it was time to focus on myself for an hour or so was an amazing feeling, and it definitely helped me unwind from the stresses of the week and clear my head for the rest of the day!

If you're currently a St. Mike's student, what have been your favorite classes? If you are an incoming student, what are some classes you might be interested in taking?